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Only 18% (down 4% since 1996) of Australians believe the media is doing a good job covering elections and controversial topics without bias. The drop of 4% is since a Morgan Poll conducted May 4/5, 1996 for The Bulletin, when 22% said the media was doing a good job.

On keeping Australians informed on subjects that Australians should know about, now only 33% (down 4% since the 1996 Bulletin/Morgan Poll) said the media was doing a good job.

Analysis by age shows that, although still low, Australians aged 14-17 were more complimentary of the media, with 29% saying the media was doing a good job at covering elections and controversial topics without bias, and 43% saying the media did a good job at keeping Australians informed on subjects that Australians should know about.

In addition, Australians say TV is their main source of International (66%) and Australian (56%) news and current affairs. Newspapers are the next popular medium, relied upon by 22% for Australian news and 17% for International news, and with Radio relied upon by 18% for Australian news and 11% for International news. These are the main findings of a special Morgan Poll conducted for The Reader.

Specifically, the ABC was mentioned by 39.5% as the TV channel most relied upon for Australian news and current affairs, followed by Channel 9 (37.5%), Channel 7 (30.5%), Channel 10 (20%) and SBS (15.5%).

The Herald Sun was the most popular Newspaper for Australian news and current affairs, mentioned by 15.5% of Australians, followed closely by the Sydney Morning Herald (14%), the Daily Telegraph (12.5%), The Australian (11%) and the Age (10.5%).

The ABC was also the most popular radio station for Australian news and current affairs (28%). The radio station mentioned next often was Triple J (5%), followed by 3AW (4%), NOVA FM (4%), Triple M (3.5%), 2UE and 2GB (both 2.5%). The Bulletin (5%), Woman’s Day and Time (both 2%) were the most popular magazines mentioned.

The ABC (34.5%) and SBS (30.5%) were the most relied upon TV stations for International news, with ABC Radio (27%) the most relied upon Radio station. The Sydney Morning Herald (13.5%) and Herald Sun (13%) were mentioned by Australians as the Newspapers they relied upon for International news, with Time Magazine (5.5%) and The Bulletin (4.5%) mentioned as Magazines relied upon for International news.

While relatively few people relied upon the Internet as their main source of news and current affairs (3% Australian, 5% International), its growing popularity is apparent when analysed by age. Eight per cent of 18-24 year olds and 6% of 25-34 year olds said the Internet was their main source of Australian news and current affairs, compared to just 3% of those aged 50-64, 2% aged 35-49, and 1% of the 65+ age group. The trend was similar with International news and current affairs, with more people overall relying on the Internet as a source. Thirteen per cent of Australians aged 18-24 named the Internet as their main source of International news and current affairs, followed by 10% of 25-30 year olds and 6% of 14-17 year olds. This compares to 3% of people in both the 35-49 and 50-64 age groups and 1% of people aged 65+.

NineMSN (11%) was the most popular internet site for a source of Australian news and current affairs, followed by the Sydney Morning Herald website (3.5%) and the ABC website (2.5%). The preference was the same for International news and current affairs (NineMSN (8%), Sydney Morning Herald (2.5%) and ABC (2%)).

These are the findings of a special telephone Morgan Poll conducted August 18/19, 2004, of 664 people aged 14+ Australia-wide.

For further information:

Gary Morgan: Office (03) 9224 5213 Mobile 0411 129 094 Home (03) 9419 3242

Michele Levine: Office (03) 9224 5215   Mobile 0411 129 093   Home (03) 9817 3066

1. PERFORMANCE OF THE MEDIA

Respondents were told: "Thinking about the news and current affairs media in Australia, that is, newspapers, magazines, TV and radio shows which provide coverage, interpretation and opinion of news and current affairs. As I read a list of statements please tell me whether you think the media is doing a good, fair or poor job."

Respondents were then asked: "Firstly, covering elections and controversial topics without bias. Is the media doing a good, fair or poor job?"

Table 1. Covering elections and controversial topics without bias

			Analysis by Gender and Age
	All People		Gender		Age
	May 4/5, 1996*	Aug 18/19, 2004	Men	Women	14-17	18-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Good	22	18	18	18	29	11	19	15	19	18
Fair	37	52	48	55	55	53	51	53	52	48
Poor	37	28	31	26	16	33	30	29	27	31
Can't say	4	2	3	1	-	3	-	3	2	3
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Respondents were then asked: "And keeping Australians informed on subjects that Australians should know about. Is the media doing a good, fair or poor job?"

Table 2. Keeping Australians informed on subjects that Australians should know about

			Analysis by Gender and Age
	All People		Gender		Age
	May 4/5, 1996*	Aug 18/19, 2004	Men	Women	14-17	18-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Good	37	33	32	34	43	30	40	27	36	31
Fair	45	43	40	46	44	35	41	48	41	47
Poor	17	22	26	18	13	34	19	23	21	19
Can't say	1	2	2	2	-	1	-	2	2	3
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

*From Morgan Poll Finding No. 2906, conducted exclusively for The Bulletin and released in the May 28, 1996 issue.

MEDIA AS A SOURCE OF AUSTRALIAN NEWS AND INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Table 3

Respondents were asked: "Which one media is your main source of information on Australian news and current affairs?"

2. MEDIA AS A SOURCE OF AUSTRALIAN NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

Table 3. Which one media is your main source of information on Australian news and current affairs?

		Analysis by Gender and Age
	All People	Gender		Age
	Aug18/19, 2004	Men	Women	14-17	18-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
TV	56	52	61	68	59	63	53	50	55
Radio	18	19	17	12	14	13	23	20	18
Newspapers	22	23	21	20	19	18	21	26	25
Magazines	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	1	1
The Internet	3	5	1	-	8	6	2	3	1
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Table 4. Which TV channels do you specifically rely on for Australian news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of Australian News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
ABC	39.5	34	43	51.5
Channel 9	37.5	42	33	34
Channel 7	30.5	36.5	20.5	25
Channel 10	20	24	17.5	13.5
SBS	15.5	15	13	18
WIN	4.5	4.5	4	5.5
SKY	3	4	0.5	1.5
Prime	2	3	1	1.5
Foxtel	2	2.5	0.5	2
NBN	1.5	2.5	1	-
GWN	1	1	0.5	1
Southern Cross	1	0.5	-	2
Imparja	0.5	0.5	-	-
Capital	0.5	0.5	-	-
Other	1	0.5	1	1.5
All/None/Can't say	4	1	10.5	3.5
TOTAL ANSWERS	164*	172*	146*	160.5*

*Note: Some people named more than one TV channel.

Table 5. Which Radio stations do you specifically rely on for Australian news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of Australian News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
ABC Radio	28	19	44.5	36.5
Triple J	5	4	3.5	7
3AW	4	4	7.5	2
NOVA FM	4	3.5	3.5	6
Triple M	3.5	4.5	1.5	1.5
2GB	2.5	1	8.5	0.5
2UE	2.5	1	8.5	1.5
Fox FM	2	2.5	1.5	2
Radio National	2	0.5	6	2
SA FM	1.5	2	-	1.5
B105	1	1.5	0.5	-
2GO	1	1	2.5	-
Local Radio Station	1	1	2	1
Other	30.5	34.5	34	22
None/Can't say	21	26	-	26
TOTAL ANSWERS	109.5*	106*	124*	109.5*

*Note: Some people named more than one Radio station.

Table 6. Which Newspapers do you specifically rely on for Australian news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of Australian News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
Herald Sun	15.5	14	17.5	20.5
Sydney Morning Herald	14	8.5	23	17.5
Daily Telegraph	12.5	13	12.5	11
The Australian	11	6.5	13.5	20
The Age	10.5	7	10.5	19.5
Courier Mail	8	11.5	1.5	4
The West Australian	7.5	8	5.5	8.5
Adelaide Advertiser	4.5	4	1.5	10
Sunday Mail	4.5	6	3.5	2.5
Australian Financial Review	2	1	0.5	6.5
The Mercury	1.5	1	1.5	3
Canberra Times	1	1	-	2
Newcastle Herald	1	1	1	1.5
The Examiner	1	1.5	-	1.5
Sunday Times	1	1.5	-	-
Other	10.5	13.5	11.5	4
None/Can't say	13.5	17	17.5	-
TOTAL ANSWERS	119.5*	116*	121*	132*

*Note: Some people named more than one Newspaper.

Table 7. Which Magazines do you specifically rely on for Australian news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of Australian News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
The Bulletin	5	2.5	8	7
Woman's Day	2	2.5	-	3.5
Time	2	1.5	1.5	2
New Idea	1.5	2.5	1	1
Woman's Weekly	1.5	2	1.5	-
Who	1	1	1	-
Other	4.5	3.5	5	4.5
None/Can't say	86	88	85	83.5
TOTAL ANSWERS	103.5*	103.5*	103*	101.5*

*Note: Some people named more than one Magazine.

Table 8. Which Internet Sites do you specifically rely on for Australian news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of Australian News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
NineMSN	11	10	11	12.5
Sydney Morning Herald	3.5	1.5	6	3.5
Abc.net.au	2.5	1	8.5	1.5
News Interactive	2	1	1.5	2
Fairfax Digital	1	1.5	-	-
Yahoo.com.au	1	1.5	-	0.5
The Age	1	0.5	1.5	1
Via Google	1	1	1	-
CNN	0.5	0.5	-	-
Other	6.5	5.5	8	7
None/Can't say	75	79	74	74.5
TOTAL ANSWERS	105*	103*	111.5*	102.5*

*Note: Some people named more than one Internet Site.

3. MEDIA AS A SOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

Table 9. Which one media is your main source of information on International news and current affairs?

		Analysis by Gender and Age
	All People	Gender		Age
	Aug18/19, 2004	Men	Women	14-17	18-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
TV	66	62	70	75	64	69	64	62	73
Radio	11	11	11	5	6	8	14	14	11
Newspapers	17	18	16	14	17	12	18	21	14
Magazines	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	1
The Internet	5	8	3	6	13	10	3	3	1
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Table 10. Which TV channels do you specifically rely on for International news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of International News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
ABC	34.5	29	41	51
SBS	30.5	31.5	24	30
Channel 9	26.5	27.5	30	23
Channel 7	21	23	21.5	17
Channel 10	13.5	15.5	9	11
SKY	4	5	-	-
Foxtel	2.5	3.5	1.5	1.5
WIN	2.5	2.5	2.5	2
CNN	2	2	1.5	1
Prime	2	2.5	1.5	1
BBC	2	1.5	3	2
NBN	1.5	1	-	3
GWN	0.5	0.5	1	1.5
Southern Cross	0.5	0.5	-	-
Imparja	0.5	0.5	-	-
Other	1.5	1.5	-	1
None/Can't say	3.5	0.5	10	7
TOTAL ANSWERS	149*	148*	146.5*	152*

*Note: Some people named more than one TV channel.

Table 11. Which Radio stations do you specifically rely on for International news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of International News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
ABC Radio	27	22.5	49	31
3AW	3	2.5	7	-
Triple M	3	3	1	3.5
Triple J	3	2	2	4.5
2UE	2	1	8.5	2.5
NOVA FM	2	1.5	2.5	3
Radio National	2	1.5	4.5	0.5
2GB	1.5	1.5	4.5	0.5
Local Radio Station	1	1.5	3	-
SA FM	1	1.5	0.5	1
B105	1	1	-	1.5
Fox FM	0.5	1	1.5	-
John Laws	0.5	0.5	-	-
2GO	0.5	0.5	-	-
Other	23	27	17.5	17.5
None/Can't say	34.5	37	2.5	35.5
TOTAL ANSWERS	107*	106*	106*	105*

*Note: Some people named more than one Radio station.

Table 12. Which Newspapers do you specifically rely on for International news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of International News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
Sydney Morning Herald	13.5	10	19.5	18.5
Herald Sun	13	12	19	16
The Australian	11.5	8	17.5	15.5
Daily Telegraph	10.5	11.5	9.5	9
The Age	10.5	8.5	9.5	18.5
Courier Mail	7	9.5	1.5	3.5
The West Australian	6.5	6.5	5	9.5
Adelaide Advertiser	4.5	4	2	9
Sunday Mail	4.5	5.5	2	2.5
Australian Financial Review	1.5	1.5	1.5	4
The Mercury	1.5	2	1.5	-
Canberra Times	1	1	1.5	1
Newcastle Herald	1	1	1	1
Sunday Times	1	1	-	-
The Examiner	1	1	-	-
Other	8	9.5	8.5	4.5
None/Can't say	18.5	21.5	19.5	3
TOTAL ANSWERS	115*	113*	127*	116*

*Note: Some people named more than one Newspaper.

Table 13. Which Magazines do you specifically rely on for International news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of International News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
Time	5.5	5.5	3.5	7
The Bulletin	4.5	2.5	10.5	7.5
Woman's Day	1.5	2	-	1.5
New Idea	1.5	2	-	1
Woman's Weekly	1	1.5	-	1
Who	0.5	1	-	1
Other	4.5	4.5	5	5.5
None/Can't say	83	84	81	78.5
TOTAL ANSWERS	102*	103*	100*	103*

*Note: Some people named more than one Magazine.

Table 14. Which Internet Sites do you specifically rely on for International news and current affairs?

	All People	Main Source of International News
	Aug 18/19, 2004	TV	Radio	Newspapers
	%	%	%	%
NineMSN	8	7	7.5	5.5
Sydney Morning Herald	2.5	1	3.5	5.5
Abc.net.au	2	1	5.5	3
Via Google	1.5	1	0.5	-
BBC	1	1	-	-
The Age	1	1	1	1
News Interactive	1	-	1.5	1
CNN	1	0.5	-	1
Yahoo.com.au	1	1	-	-
Fairfax Digital	0.5	0.5	-	1
Other	5	4	6.5	2.5
None/Can't say	79.5	84	77.5	83
TOTAL ANSWERS	104*	102*	103.5*	103.5*

*Note: Some people gave more than one response.

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